Slipping Through My Fingers
by Broken Flavors
Summary: One-Shot: Spoilers for Manga chapter 332. Friendship is a lot like sand... A look into Luffy's reaction to Usopp and his debacle.


Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece. I'm just borrowing the characters.

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_A friendship is like sand in your hand: _

_if held loosely in the palm of your hand, it stays there, _

_but as soon as you close your hand tightly, _

_it slips through your fingers._

-Unknown

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…_If you don't like my decision then just leave…_

He was a fool. It was simple as that.

Luffy had intended the statement as harmless, a simple warning to Usopp for him to get back in line.

_...Don't say "I've decided!" like you're a real captain…_

Was that how the crew actually saw him? As a wannabee captain? Sure, Luffy knew he wasn't the most serious of people and was a bit hotheaded, but when they had always followed his direction. His nakama had questioned his decisions before but had never refused to carry them out.

Luffy growled as he paced back and forth in the men's cabin. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost didn't notice his first mate slipping into the room before locking the door behind him.

-x-

…_Decisive…That's what a captain is…_

Usopp's reaction to the news had surprised the whole crew. Although they didn't act like it often, the Straw Hat Pirates all knew their place within the group. Luffy was their captain, Zoro the first mate, and sure, they questioned Luffy's decisions and pestered Zoro about his weaknesses, they never meant anything negative by it.

Then Usopp blew up.

It was easy to see the hurt on Luffy's face when Usopp questioned his demands. Luffy had responded in kind and soon they got into a shouting match. Zoro had given a few half-hearted attempts to stop the argument, but he knew that it was necessary for Luffy to handle the disagreement in his own way.

And this was how it had ended up.

The swordsman had quietly opened the door to the men's cabin to check up on their captain. At the sight of his captain in deep thought, Zoro entered the room and locked the door, preventing anyone else from interfering with what was about to happen. Their captain was a ticking bomb, and Zoro was ready for him to explode.

He didn't have to wait long.

-x-

…_Don't hesitate… If you can't be decisive, then who can we believe in…_

The poor wall received the brunt of the assault.

"I don't think Usopp would appreciate any added damage to his ship," Zoro muttered quietly, inspecting the fist-sized hole in the wall of the cabin. Luffy turned his face towards his first mate, his dark eyes narrowed.

"You're input isn't appreciated right now Zoro," Luffy growled before he resumed pacing the length of the room. "Shouldn't you be helping the rest of the crew? You're the strongest, so unloading supplies should be an easy task for you."

"It's easier than talking with you, that's for sure."

Luffy ignored the retort.

"So what're you going to do? Mope around because you shitted up?"

The rubber man twirled mid step to glower at his first mate. "You don't have to worry about that. I'm _perfectly_ fine with how this whole situation turned out. After all, what captain _doesn't_ want division amongst his ranks?"

Zoro crossed the room to sit on a hammock as he watched the straw hat wearer carefully. With a sigh, he decided to stop playing the devil's advocate.

"You handled the situation perfectly in my opinion. He openly challenged your leadership, and you tried to push him back in line. When he refused, you gave him an ultimatum and he made _his own_ decision to leave the crew. Nobody can blame you for his way of handling the situation."

"Bull shit. Even if that _was_ the case, its my job as Captain to make sure this type of situation never occurs in the first place."

The swordsman raised his eyebrow questioningly. "Oh really? You're supposed to prevent conflict amongst a group of people who spend months on end floating in cramped quarters. I'm sorry to break this to you Luffy, but that's damn near impossible."

"I shouldn't have told him about Merry that way. I should've known how attached he would be to the ship."

"So learn from your mistakes."

"I plan on it, but it doesn't prevent the past from happening."

"So don't dwell on what you can't change."

Luffy sighed as he rubbed his head in exasperation. He walked towards his swordsman to join him on the hammock. Zoro shuffled to the left so that they sat on either side of the piece of furniture, distributing their weight as evenly as possible to keep the swaying cloth stable.

"You're annoying, do you know that?"

Zoro snorted. "Me? Annoying? That means a _lot_ coming from you."

Luffy allowed a small smile on his face before pushing his straw hat down so that his eyes were hidden from view. He hated how easily readable his emotions were through his eyes, and he had already shown enough weakness to his crew mates. No need to do any further damage.

"Let's clear the ship. We shouldn't keep Usopp waiting any longer."

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, the two got up to join the rest of the remaining crew. After taking all of their possessions off the ship, they still had much to do; including getting a new place to set up camp and then finding Robin.

As Luffy was about to step out of the room, Zoro put his hand on the rubber man's shoulder. Luffy paused, before nodding his head slightly. Then they both hurried out of the room. No words needed to be said; they understood each other perfectly.

'_I'm sorry about Usopp.'_

'_Me too.'_

_

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Author's Note:

SUCCESS! Haha, I wrote this is a surprisingly short amount of time. I'm really happy with the result though.

Here's a short little one-shot about the Canon-verse. As I'm reading through the manga, I'll probably add more one-shots as inspiration strikes. Personally, I don't like Usopp that much. I haven't read much farther in the manga, but I hope he returns as a kick-ass marksman.

I hope you enjoyed this. I don't think people write enough of Luffy's more serious side. Sure he's a big goofball, but he _is_ a captain and he's shown throughout what I've seen so far, that he takes the job seriously.

Reviews, as always, are loved and appreciated.

Current Status:_ Unedited_

***If you want to beta read my work, feel free to send me a message***


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